Tag: feminism

Meanwhile across town, I finished reading Jennifer Keishin Armstrong’s book “Sex and the City and Us” and I couldn’t help but wonder, was I a Miranda or a Charlotte? If you’re a fan of this HBO show from the late 90s – early 2000s, then this read will definitely appeal to you. Subtitled “How Four Single Women Changed the Way We Think, Live, and Love,” this book is an examination of the cultural impact that the show had on the world as we know it: from feminism to being single to finding love in your friendships.

The book turned out to be a fun read! It wasn’t as academic as it is made out to sound. In fact, it’s more of a behind-the-scenes look at the show, how it started, how the people behind it used stories from their own lives to help shape the stories being told, etc. I thought I knew everything about the show, but this book taught me so much more. For instance, I didn’t know that Sarah Jessica Parker was reluctant to do the program since she was more of a movie actress and wasn’t interested in pursuing television. This was all before what is now considered the new golden age of television. In fact, Sex and the City may have been at the onset of that resurgence, having given HBO a major hit show that would bring the network to the forefront of the movement with other series such as The Sopranos and Game of Thrones.

At the end of the day, if you’re a fan of Sex and the City and if you’re wondering whether you should pick up this book or not, my answer to you would be: “Abso-frickin’-lutely.” (Submitted by Alan)

Jónína Kirton is our local poet. She is a Métis with Icelandic and Indigenous roots. It was especially interesting to read this collection of poetry because it’s modern, indigenous, and feminist. Jónína’s poems are relatable, in simple language, yet with complex meaning or, often, on complex subjects. There are poems that are filled with pain and sorrow, but when you read them – it feels like by saying and acknowledging all the heavy matters – we become lighter and calmer: accepting and forgiving. This is the true beauty of poetry: releasing our thoughts and feelings and transforming subjects into something else entirely. (Submitted by Mariya)

If you would like to meet Jónína Kirton in person and hear her story, then, feel free to register for an upcoming Authors Among Us event – Wednesday, September 26, 2018, 6:30-8:30 pm at the Guildford Library. For more information, please, visit this link.

As a fan of biographies, I was thrilled to discover this book that details both the lives of eighteenth century writer, philosopher, and advocate of women’s rights Mary Wollstonecraft, and her daughter Mary Shelley, author of the classic novel Frankenstein. Romantic Outlaws reads like a gripping historical fiction as the remarkable storyteller and historian, Charlotte Gordon, examines both of the lives of these incredibly influential literary voices. Weaving the lives of these two women in alternating chapters, the reader is provided with a window into the social and political atmosphere of Western Europe during the late eighteenth century as Mary Wollstonecraft experiences both the glory and the terror of the French Revolution, while struggling to promote the equality of the sexes. Gordon simultaneously explores the life of Wollstonecraft’s daughter, Mary, focusing on the romantic relationship between Mary and the great Romantic poet Percy Bysshe Shelley. Gordon presents the reader with the lives of these women who paved the way for the future of feminism, as the themes that are present in the work of both women are still highly relevant in today’s society where women still struggle for equal representation socially, politically, and economically. This was a riveting read! (Submitted by Sarah)